Perthshire junior football round-up

May 4 2010 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A SOLITARY point was Jeanfield Swifts’ scant reward after a great fightback against Oakley.

Trailing 3–1 to the Fifers after an hour’s play, the Perth side squared the game but were denied a famous win in the closing stages.

Three factors foiled them – a string of excellent saves from the Oakley keeper, a host of missed chances and some really cruel luck in front of goal when the ball was prevented from crossing the goal-line by legs, knees and any other part of the anatomy that happened to get in the way.

Swifts went close to taking the lead after 12 minutes when their striker David Thornton hit a strike from 15 yards only to be denied when the keeper reacted brilliantly and pushed the ball round the post for a corner which brought Swifts no joy.

Swifts took the lead in 20 minutes when they were awarded a free kick which was taken by Chris Dodd who hoisted the ball into the heart of the penalty box where it was met by Gordon Bryce who powered a header into the back of the net.

Five minutes later and the game was all square.

A ball into the Swifts penalty box saw keeper Mark Mitchell and Oakley forward Charlie Scarborough go for the ball, the Oakley player went down and the referee gave a penalty which Swifts were certainly not happy about.

Scarborough took the spot kick himself and made no mistake as he cracked the ball home.

Oakley went ahead with a real wonder goal in 40 minutes. A ball into Swifts’ penalty box was punched well out by their keeper but it landed at the feet of Willie Campbell the Oakley player met the ball first time and from somewhere around 25–30 yards it simply flew into the top corner of the net and the Fifers went in ahead at the interval.

Oakley swept into a 3–1 lead minutes into the second half with a goal from Mark Forbes. This further setback acted as a wake up call for Swifts.

They went chasing goals and had their opponents’ goal under pretty constant pressure.

It survived a few hairy moments until a John Anderson header from a corner was pushed out by the keeper and the big striker was on the spot to hit home the rebound – right on the hour mark.

Oakley in their now sporadic raids on Swifts goal had one or two chances but didn’t put them away and in 72 minutes Swifts squared the game when they were awarded a free kick on the edge of their opponents penalty box. The free kick was taken by Tony Holt who cracked it past the wall and into the corner of the net.

Swifts pretty much laid siege to the Oakley goal but they couldn’t get that elusive winner that would have given their championship chances a boost.

Kinnoull certainly kept their Premier League championship and promotion hopes very much alive with an excellent 2–1 win away from home against Armadale.

Armadale had a chance to take the lead after five minutes when Lee Johnstone shot past the post with only keeper Duncan Bruce to beat.

Kinnoull responded to this near setback immediately when Robbie Holden was left to finish off a good move but keeper Bob Woods managed to touch his shot round the post for a corner which brought no joy.

Kinnoull felt they were denied a great opportunity to take the lead by a controversial decision from the referee in 20 minutes when Robbie Holden was left with only the keeper to beat who was outside his penalty box.

Holden tried to lob the keeper who got a touch to the ball which dropped behind him and Holden went racing towards the loose ball and with an empty goal ahead of him he looked certain to score but was stopped in his tracks by the referee’s whistle who pulled the ball back and awarded a free kick against the keeper for a hand ball offence instead of applying the advantage rule.

Ten minutes later another decision by the official caused Kinnoull further annoyance when a long clearance into their penalty box cannoned off Armadale’s Craig Chilton over the head of keeper Duncan Bruce and it rebounded down off the face of the crossbar behind him and much to their amazement the referee who was quite a distance away adjudged it had crossed the goal line and Kinnoull were a goal behind.

The half was going into stoppage time when Kinnoull equalised when a great through ball from Chris Anton was picked up by Robbie Holden and the sharp as a tack striker had it in the back of the net before their opponents could do anything about it.

Kinnoull surged into the attack from the restart and came close to taking the lead twice but were denied by good saves from keeper Woods. In 55 minutes a long throw in from Ross Gunnion into the heart of the goalmouth saw Sandy Ross jump for the ball along with the keeper and central defender Gregor Buchanan who got his head to the ball but unfortunately for him it landed in the back of his own net and this proved to be the winner.

Bankfoot lost the chance to move into the top half of the table when they were held at home to a 1–1 draw by Rosyth.

The first 20 minutes of this game was pretty much confined to the midfield then in 23 minutes the Rosyth goalkeeper launched a long ball to the near edge of the Bankies penalty box where it was picked up by Rosyth’s Andy Wilson who shot over keeper Mike Whytes head into the back of the net.

This setback stunned the Bankies who had their opponents on the back foot and created a number of chances but failed to put any of them away.

The second half saw the Bankies pretty much in command and in 70 minutes a free kick from Gavin Mackie was just wide of the mark. Five minutes later however Bankies got back on level terms when Steven Moon played the ball out to Allan Stewart on the right and the striker hit a lob from all of 25 yards over the keepers head and into the back of the net.

In the final minute of the game sub Ally Gray, who had come on a few minutes earlier, almost snatched the winner for Bankies when he cracked the ball from all of 20 yards right on target only to be denied by an excellent save from the keeper.

Luncarty were at home to championship chasing Dundonald and they went a goal behind in 15 minutes when the Fifers trialist striker headed in a cross from the left.

The Bleachers shook of this setback and had their much fancied opponents on the back foot and it didn’t take them long to get back on level terms and it was with a great 25 yard strike from Darren Wilcox.

The Fifers restored their lead on the stroke of half time with a goal from Dave Balfour whom the Bleachers felt was offside but the referee didn’t see it that way.

The second half had only gone a couple of minutes when Jordan Brown squared the game for the Bleachers, again this was with another excellent strike, this time from the edge of the penalty box.

In 75 minutes Ray Morgan restored the Fifers lead with a header and Martyn Thompson clinched the points for them with goal number four.

This was an excellent performance from the Bleachers against a side who are contenders for the league championship.

Scone Thistle also faced a side with championship aspirations. They were away to Thornton Hibs and the Thistle turned in one of their best performances in this encounter. The score sheet was still blank as the game went into its last quarter when Burns put the Hibs ahead with what proved to be the only goal of the game.

The Thistle after the loss of this goal threw caution to the wind and attacked the Hibs goal and gave them and their supporters a few nail-biting moments but unfortunately they couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net but it was a very encouraging performance from Derek Adams quite young team.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) Jeanfield Swifts and Bankfoot clash at the Riverside Stadium in the Central League, kick off 7pm. So far the respective managers have both said they will make late selections for this Derby encounter which should pull a good crowd.

SATURDAY’S results in the Bukta Teamwear.com Leagues: Premier League – Armadale 1, Kinnoull 2; Montrose R 1, Tayport 2; Arniston R 3, Forfar West End 2.

Central League – Jeanfield Swifts 3, Oakley United 3; Bankfoot Athletic 1, Rosyth 1; Luncarty 2, Dundonald Bluebell 4; Thornton Hibs 1, Scone Thistle 0.